Kubuntu is the result of the Ubuntu project's effort to satisfy the KDE fans of its distribution. The first test release of Kubuntu 5.04 was released today - it is a live CD for the i386 architecture, but other architectures will follow in the near future. If you intend to test the release, please note that bug reports are not yet accepted in Bugzilla, but should instead be reported on the kubuntu-devel mailing list. Here is the release announcement and a screenshot. Download Kubuntu from here: hoary-live-i386.iso (535MB) or get it via BitTorrent. More information about the current status of Kubuntu can be found on this page. Update: Kubuntu install images for various architectures are now also available, together with KDE 3.4 packages.

Ubuntu is a complete desktop Linux operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Manifesto: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit. "Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

Canonical has announced the release of a new version of its popular Ubuntu operating system. The latest version, Ubuntu 16.10, offers users many updated packages, a preview session of the Unity 8 desktop environment and version 4.8 of the Linux kernel. The distribution also features LibreOffice 5.2 and the update manager application now shows changelogs from enabled personal package archives (PPAs). "Network performance is a primary focus of this release, with updated versions of Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK), OpenVSwitch (OVS) and virtualization technologies, all able to handle critical application traffic for lower latency and greater throughput. Ubuntu 16.10 and the corresponding updates to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS further enhance Ubuntu’s position as the leading private cloud infrastructure operating system, with OpenStack Newton, DPDK, enhanced OpenVSwitch and LXD machine containers alongside regular KVM based VM guests. Ubuntu 16.10 previews Canonical’s device convergence vision." Further information can be found in the distribution's release announcement and release notes. Download (pkglist): ubuntu-16.10-desktop-amd64.iso (1,520MB, SHA256, signature, torrent), ubuntu-16.10-server-amd64.iso (668MB, SHA256, signature, torrent).

Canonical has announced the availability of Ubuntu 16.04. The new version of Ubuntu is a long term support release, meaning it will receive security updates for the next five years. Some of the big changes in this release include support for the "snap" package format; Snappy packages can be installed alongside traditional Deb packages. Python 2 is no longer installed by default, but can be found in the distribution's software repositories. This release is the first to feature built-in ZFS support. "Ubuntu 16.04 LTS introduces a new application format, the 'snap', which can be installed alongside traditional Deb packages. These two packaging formats live quite comfortably next to one another and enable Ubuntu to maintain its existing processes for development and updates." Further details can be found in the Ubuntu 16.04 release notes and on the features page. Download (pkglist): ubuntu-16.04-desktop-amd64.iso (1,417MB, SHA256, signature, torrent), ubuntu-16.04-server-amd64.iso (655MB, SHA256, signature, torrent).

Adam Conrad has announced the launch of Ubuntu 15.10. The new Ubuntu release features version 4.2 of the Linux kernel, updated packages of Firefox, LibreOffice and the GNU Compiler Collection along with several bug fixes. "Codenamed `Wily Werewolf', 15.10 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs. Under the hood, there have been updates to many core packages, including a new 4.2-based kernel, a switch to gcc-5, and much more. Ubuntu Desktop has seen incremental improvements, with newer versions of GTK and Qt, updates to major packages like Firefox and LibreOffice, and stability improvements to Unity. Ubuntu Server 15.10 includes the Liberty release of OpenStack, alongside deployment and management tools that save devops teams time when deploying distributed applications - whether on private clouds, public clouds, x86, ARM, or POWER servers, or on developer laptops. Several key server technologies, from MAAS to juju, have been updated to new upstream versions with a variety of new features." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement and in the release notes. Download (pkglist): ubuntu-15.10-desktop-amd64.iso (1,123MB, SHA256, torrent), ubuntu-15.10-server-amd64.iso (632MB, SHA256, torrent).

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